Apollo Awards: Students show their passion for theater

Holding a competition through the Apollo Awards for high school theater gives students a chance to show their best.

On Sunday, the third annual Apollo Awards were held at the Hershey Theatre.

It was a stellar evening that showcased the tremendous talent, heart and hard work that can be found in high school theaters across the midstate.

The arts are under siege in school districts. Because districts live or die on the strength of PSSA tests that focus on English, math and science, a drama program can look like nothing more than a bit of fun.

After all, little children all play pretend. Isn’t that what these students are doing?

No.

Tossing a football in the backyard with Dad when you’re seven has little to do with what all-star high school football players do. And childhood pretending has little to do with the craft of theater.

Great young performers, like great young athletes, combine innate talent with a mastery of fundamentals, practice and discipline.

Some schools in the area decline to participate. “I don’t think musical theater should be a competitive, judgmental situation,” said Eric Dundore, a director at Mechanicsburg Area High School.

Ironically, the students recognize the awards for what they are. A thousand students and adults at Hershey Theatre cheered wildly not just for the winners, but for all the performers on Sunday. Of course, everyone wanted to win, but overall, the Apollos are a celebration of theater by the students who love it most.

In fact, this year’s awards for musical and drama performances underscored what the show’s organizers have always said: The judges look only at performances, not at sets or costumes that might be influenced by a school’s size or budget.

And so this year, Bible Baptist School of Shiremanstown (360 students in grades pre-K to 12) walked away with the award for best musical.

Other awards went to schools large and small: Central Dauphin East, Cedar Crest, Camp Hill, Cumberland Valley, Susquenita and Hershey. Those who fear competitive theater mean well, but they are playing into the worst stereotypes of theater as something “just for fun” — and, of course, therefore, expendable.

The passionate and disciplined actors at the Apollo Awards knew differently. They knew that high school athletes do it, high school scholars do it, even high school spellers do it.

And if they want to purse the performing arts as a career or even an avocation, they will do it more than anyone — submit themselves to being judged.

By competing in the Apollo Awards, they were saying: This is serious. It’s difficult. And our excellence is worthy of recognition.